Chapter Twenty-Four: Kazuki of the Elite Four, Master of Psychic Powers

Guangtai deposited the prepared package into the box, while the Charizard held several cards, seemingly verifying the shipment details.

Guangtai offered a berry to the Charizard, but the latter waved its claws and let out a dull roar.

"Graw..." The Charizard gestured with its claws, maintaining a professional distance, though it didn't mean anything personal.

"Yo~" The Honedge floated over to Guangtai at the right moment to act as a translator.

The Charizard was explaining that it was against the rules to eat food provided by clients during work hours. If it were to get an upset stomach, it would delay the delivery, potentially causing the package to be late or lost. It had already eaten its work meal before setting off, and the box contained emergency Pokémon food.

As it growled, the Charizard pulled out what looked like a steamed bun from the box.

It was a specialty of Mahogany Town and an iconic snack of the Johto region: Rage Candy Bar!

This specialty snack is sold in towns across Johto. The Charizard, having flown all the way from Blackthorn City, carried it to nibble on if it encountered any abnormal status conditions along the way.

"Hmm... That makes sense. I really shouldn't just offer food to working Pokémon." Guangtai was momentarily stunned, realizing that Pokémon with formal jobs were quite different from wild ones.

Their awareness of food safety was truly top-tier.

I am just a customer; I overstepped my bounds.

"Graw~"

Soon, the Charizard flapped its wings. Without further conversation, it faithfully fulfilled its duty as a courier, took the package, and flew off, gradually disappearing into the high sky as a black dot.

As the wind stirred the grass, something fell from the sky and landed on Guangtai’s head.

It was a conspicuous white blade of grass.

"Huh?" Guangtai took the white leaf off his head.

[Rare Material: White Herb.]

[Description: A white herbal leaf that retains a pleasant aroma. Herbs are plants occasionally found in grasslands, forests, and similar areas. Sometimes they are blown out of the grass by Flying-type Pokémon or carried away to distant places.]

[Effect: When held by a Pokémon, it can restore any lowered stats to their original state once.]

[Knowledge Gained: 1]

[Leaf Traveler: Occasionally find herbal leaves in grasslands or wind-blown fallen leaves; 5% chance.]

Herbs can indeed be found in the wild, but their growth locations are not fixed, so finding a complete plant is purely a matter of luck. However, flower shops in various regions often cultivate them, and one can even frequently see flowers like the Floette’s eternal flower.

The Pokémon associated with herbs is Tangela; it is said that herbs can often be found among its vines. The vines themselves function similarly to herbs, though the two seem completely unrelated!

Beep—

The computer sounded.

...

A new wild customer had refreshed. The spawn rate was truly high.

Thinking this, Guangtai returned inside.

He opened the computer to check the email, only to find the content read:

[I foresee that you possess "Light Clay." To be honest, I have heard that this clay can be used to strengthen Psychic-type moves, but it is rarely found, mostly in the underground of Sinnoh, and cannot be obtained in Kanto or Johto. If you have any...]

Foresee?

Is this person a Psychic?

"The ID is [Xatu]?"

This ID was quite unfamiliar; there was no way to tell anything from it. But a guest is a guest. Since the sender had foreseen the Light Clay and was asking to buy it...

Of course, I’ll sell it!

Although he had initially intended to fire the Light Clay into pottery, he hadn't found the time. Now, someone actually wanted to buy it directly.

Beep—

The computer received another email.

[I foresee that you are preparing to fire the Light Clay into a unique piece of pottery. I am very interested in this pottery as well. Please do fire it; I will pay double the price...]

"Eh?"

Guangtai paused.

This person is quite something. Don't Psychics usually have to be nearby to read thoughts or perform precognition?

To prevent the person from sending more emails, Guangtai quickly added them as a friend and began to communicate.

"You should know the purpose of Light Clay, right? When a Pokémon holding it uses Light Screen or Reflect, the effects last longer than usual."

"The price for Light Clay is... 50,000. If you want me to fire it into pottery, the price itself will increase, to around 100,000. Double that would be 200,000. Are you sure you want to buy the pottery I fire at double the price?"

Guangtai had originally wanted to quote 20,000, but thinking about how this was a scarce item here, 20,000 was far too low.

[Xatu]: "No problem. Money is not important to us Psychics. Also, I am a magician who travels the world and am somewhat well-known in the magic world; you don't need to worry about my funds."

"As for your previous question, why Psychics can read minds from such a distance—haha, I am not reading your mind. I simply foresaw the future and knew you would say that at that moment. I also borrowed the power of a Pokémon; my partner is a Xatu."

"My Xatu uses Future Sight to find special items. Everything it finds possesses incredible power!"

Eh? Future Sight?

In Pokémon battles, Future Sight is a delayed damage move, but in non-combat situations, it can indeed "foresee the future."

Precisely predicting the near future and then taking corresponding actions—that is the essence of the move. A Pokémon like Xatu can not only peer into a person's future but also view their past.

"You seem very interested in psychic powers." [Xatu] sent a message, along with a confused emoji, followed by a string of strange messages:

"If you want to know if you possess psychic powers, or if you are interested in psychic training and want to pursue greater power, I can offer you some advice."

"A simple method of training: Night is the time when psychic powers are enhanced. Stare at a certain tree in front of you and focus all your attention on it. This can exercise your concentration, which will help you focus during battles! Even if you can't awaken psychic powers, you can gradually strengthen your mind!"

"Although I have other training methods, those are secrets. Letting others know my training methods is equivalent to letting them know the secret of my power!"

Hmm, the feeling of dealing with a Psychic was novel at first, but now it’s a bit uncomfortable.

Anything I say or do can be seen by Future Sight!

"Could you please stop foreseeing my future?" Guangtai replied helplessly. "As a craftsman, I don't want my techniques to be seen by others."

[Xatu]: "Apologies, I forgot about that. Then please go ahead and fire it. Once you are finished, you can send me a message at any time; I will be here."

After sending this message, the user stopped talking. Guangtai immediately stood up and found the sealed bag of Light Clay.

This item was indeed rare in Johto; most Light Clay comes from Sinnoh.

As for firing it, could he just use the forge?

Without a professional ceramic kiln, he would have to use the most primitive and simple method. With his craftsmanship and knowledge bonuses, Guangtai was full of confidence.

The doors to the forge were opened, the cleaned furnace was put back into use, and the enclosed outer wall was slowly pushed open by Guangtai.

There was no anvil, but he would need to get one later. More forging and firing tools would also need to be purchased—he could just order them online later and have them delivered by the Mahogany Town courier.

Maybe the village had a spare anvil and forging tools.

In simple pottery firing, there is a method called 'Shichirin-yaki,' which essentially means firing in a charcoal stove, and this charcoal stove was about the size of a small coal stove.

In some more primitive places, the requirements for pottery firing are not high, so there is no need for a kiln; one can simply pile fuel on the ground to fire the pottery, although the quality won't be very good.

However, Guangtai had a furnace.

Raw material processing, clay shaping, glazing... Guangtai quickly completed these three steps using unique pottery-making techniques. The glazing step was the most troublesome.

Glaze refers to a浆 (slurry) made by grinding certain natural minerals or plants into powder and mixing them with clay. It is applied to the vessel body and, after firing, forms a thin, glassy layer on the surface.

So, the earliest glazes were essentially wood ash. Guangtai took the time to make glaze slurry; fortunately, he had a large stock of minerals.

Once everything was ready, the firing part followed. The time required for firing pottery varies due to many factors, but it usually takes anywhere from a few hours to several days. Different types of clay require different firing times and temperatures; some special clays may take longer to reach the ideal degree of vitrification.

But for Light Clay, it only took a few hours to finish firing.

During the process, the Honedge ran in to take a look, but left immediately after feeling the heat!

Steel-types are weak to fire!

"You can't do this job, or it'll turn into a sword-forging competition," Guangtai joked.

Soon, Guangtai used his tools to take out the fired pottery.

[Craft: Light Pottery (Jar).]

[Description: Pottery processed and fired from rare Light Clay, using unique firing techniques.]

[Retained Effect: When held by a Pokémon, Light Screen or Reflect effects last longer than usual. Ground-type and Rock-type Pokémon will be very fond of this pottery; the Light Clay slightly enhances their elemental energy.]

[Unique Effect: When a Psychic-type Pokémon stays with the Light Pottery for a long time, the power of its Psychic-type moves is enhanced.]

"Huh, although I know that Poison-types like Poison Barbs and Fire-types like Flame Orbs, does Light Clay have an effect on Psychic, Rock, and Ground types all at once?"

"Indeed, come to think of it, it's clearly Ground-type clay, yet it can enhance Psychic-type status moves. Pokémon items and materials are truly magical. There is an ancient Pokémon called Baltoy, and it and its evolution Claydol are said to be made from ancient clay puppets. In the Unova region, the Golett family has similar legends."

"Claydol is Ground + Psychic, and Golurk is Ground + Ghost. So, is Light Clay the raw material for making these clay puppet Pokémon?"

Guangtai let his thoughts wander for a moment before returning to the computer to inform the other party of the result and asking them to place an order. However, the other party said it wouldn't be necessary to go through that trouble.

[Xatu]: "I am currently training in Mahogany Town. Since I can see you through Future Sight, it means my psychic power can also be transmitted to you via the computer."

"I will have my Xatu use 'Teleport' to pick up the goods. Your craft will definitely be put to good use in my hands!"

Put to good use—what did that mean?

"To be put to good use means I will challenge other powerful Pokémon Trainers. Apologies, this is the last time I will foresee your future. Let me bow out with an introduction."

"My name is Will, a former world-traveling magician and one of the current Elite Four of the Johto League. It is a pleasure to meet you!"

Accompanied by the sound of a transaction, Guangtai opened his Pokémon device and found that he had received 200,000!

*Whoosh—*

A strange psychic fluctuation appeared. Guangtai turned around and found that the freshly fired Light Pottery began to appear "fragmented," and then vanished in an instant!

"Teleporting to pick up goods from this far away? This psychic power is simply..."

Guangtai was very surprised; it was just like Old Man Mountain's Abra!

Wait, come to think of it, shouldn't it be the Abra that's impressive?!

"Psychic-type Pokémon are truly convenient! By the way, if I fire pottery next time, should I make a clay ocarina?"